Longmont seeing long line of thunderstorms, hazardous weather warning

NWS outlook for region says 'some flooding' possible in NE Colorado

Thunderstorms are in the Longmont area and likely to stay for a while, with the National Weather Service warning that the weather could turn nasty.

The NWS issued a hazardous weather outlook for northeastern Colorado, including Boulder County below 6,000 feet, at 4:12 a.m. In it, the weather service said that showers and thunderstorms were expected in the mountains and foothills by midday, with more activity over the Front Range and the Palmer Divide by mid-afternoon.

"Storms will be slower moving today, so rainfall amounts up to 2 inches could occur in less than 45 minutes over northeast Colorado, which could lead to some flooding," the weather service reported. "In the foothills, a few storms could produce an inch of rain in 45 minutes."

The greatest potential for severe weather, it said, was further south, starting at a line between Denver and Akron and going south from there. That area had the possibility of high wind (60 mph or more), hail of up to 1.5 inches in diameter and maybe a few brief tornadoes.

The five-day forecast for the Longmont area showed a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms today and tonight, with a 60 percent chance for heavy rain Friday and a 50 percent chance of further thunderstorms Friday night. In fact, the entire period shows a continued chance of thunderstorms, with a 40 percent chance Saturday, a 30 percent chance Sunday and a slight chance on Memorial Day.

Longmont's river monitoring website showed the St. Vrain River at Lyons had reached a flow rate of 514 cubic feet per second as of 5:15 a.m., its highest rate so far during this spring's runoff of mountain snowmelt, but still well below flood stage. That had fallen to 498 cfs by 7:15 a.m.

City officials warn of elevated flood risk at 1,250 cfs and imminent daner at 2,500 cfs, the river's maximum capacity since September's flood.

The rate just below Ralph Price Reservoir remained at about 225 cfs, while the river flow showed 188 cfs at Hygiene and 285 cfs below Ken Pratt Boulevard in Longmont. Left Hand Creek, which has a maximum post-flood capacity of 2,000 cfs, showed a flow of 112 cfs at Hover Street as of 7:10 a.m.

Times-Call weather expert Dave Larison said Longmont got less than a quarter inch of rain overnight on Wednesday, including 0.15 inches at his own gague in north Longmont.

"The best chance of heavy rains is actually tomorrow (Friday) as the upper-level low that's been triggering this stormy weather in Colorado moves a little closer," Larison said.

Today's rain was expected mostly after noon. The forecast calls for a high of 73 today and a low of 49. That's not likely to change much for the rest of the week, with forecasts predicting highs of 70 on Friday, 74 on Saturday, 68 on Sunday and 74 on Memorial Day.

MacIntyre says the completed project will be best in Pac-12There were bulldozers, hard hats, mud, concrete trucks, blueprints, mud, cranes, lots of noise and, uh, mud, during the last recruiting cycle when Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre brought recruits to campus. Full Story

MacIntyre says the completed project will be best in Pac-12There were bulldozers, hard hats, mud, concrete trucks, blueprints, mud, cranes, lots of noise and, uh, mud, during the last recruiting cycle when Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre brought recruits to campus. Full Story

Most people don't play guitar like Grayson Erhard does. That's because most people can't play guitar like he does. The guitarist for Fort Collins' Aspen Hourglass often uses a difficult two-hands-on-the-fretboard technique that Eddie Van Halen first popularized but which players such as Erhard have developed beyond pop-rock vulgarity.
Full Story